BANGALORE: Satyam Computer Services will buy a couple of niche capability companies in Japan and open new software development centres in China and Malaysia to tap more business opportunities and lift its earnings from the Asia Pacific (APAC) region to about 20 per cent.

Satyam at present earns 16.5 per cent or about $165 million of its total revenues from the APAC region, which has been neglected by Indian IT companies because of its fragmented nature and because it is perceived as a difficult terrain to do business.

Satyam has been clocking a growth rate in excess of 50 per cent from this region for the past three years, Virender Aggarwal, Director and Senior Vice-President, Head of Asia Pacific, Middle East, India and Africa, Satyam Computer, told reporters here on Thursday. At present, Japan accounts for 1.5 per cent of its revenues, almost identical to the earnings of other Indian IT companies from that country. "Acquisition is the only route to crack the Japanese market," he said.

Satyam is also negotiating with the Chinese Government for starting a new development centre with a capacity for 1,000 persons in one of the Tier-II locations there.

Mr. Agarwal said Satyam had short-listed four Tier-II locations for starting the new development centre, its fourth in China. It is also planned to scale up its head count in China from 350 to over 3,000 by the end of 2008. "The wage inflation in China is similar to India and the staff attrition is also high there. That's why we are moving into a Tier-II location for our new development centre," he said, adding that the Chinese operations were a de-risking strategy for North American and European customer base. Satyam is further expected to announce the setting up of a new 500-seater software development centre in Malaysia in a month's time.

"We are negotiating with the Malaysian Government for a site and an announcement on the new facility will come as early as in a month," he said.

As part of a de-risking strategy, Satyam will focus on earning 50 per cent of its revenues from outside the U.S., which now generates about 65 per cent of its total revenues.

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